AFC POTY: First shortlist announced

Kuala Lumpur: AFC has announced the First shortlist announced of contenders for the coveted AFC Player of the Year award for this year.

Korea Republic and Iran have three players each in the list while Asian champions Japan have two. Iraq, UAE, China, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria have a player each in the 15-member list. The list will be revised again next month after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League and AFC Cup matches.

From Iran, defender Hadi Aghili, Farhad Majidi and Ghasem Hadadifar found themselves among the contenders while Korea Republic’s Koo Ja-cheol, Ha Tae-goon and Yeom Ki-hun are also on the list.Keisuke Honda and Takashi Inui’s performance in the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year put them in contention for the prestigious honour.